Process and Proposition: Perec for the Map-Maker

Georges Perec’s prolific creative work included literature, theater, film, radio, crossword puzzles and cataloguing techniques. This article investigates how his primary research, carried out in and around his home in Paris, his experiments with literary form and his work as an archivist of scientific papers, all carried out in the 1960s and 70s, can inform contemporary forms of engaging the everyday, specifically through a practice I describe as “propositional map-making.” Seen collectively, Perec’s approaches provide a detailed calibration of lived experience, asserting the role and value of specific artifacts and encounters around and inside spaces. He brought a certain mischievous euphoria to all, guiding his readership and colleagues to take delight in the immediate world around them. Learning from Perec’s precise approach, the “propositional map” can stimulate new forms of engagement and increase our sense of belonging in the city.